RIDGEVILLE, S.C. (AP) - They can't hear you now: South Carolina
prison officials are experimenting in Ridgeville with equipment
that jams cell phone signals.

CellAntenna Corp. CEO Howard Melamed said Friday that the
briefcase-sized device can block cell phone signals for an area as
big as an auditorium.

Corrections Director Jon Ozmint says contraband cell phones are
one of the biggest security problems in prisons across the state
and nation.

Regulators can grant federal agencies authority to use the
jammers, which prevent cell tower signals from ever reaching a
phone. But there's no such provision for state and local law
enforcement.

Ozmint says he will ask U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint to introduce
legislation that would change the federal law.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)